Drum handling attachment for lift trucks



April 27, 1965 F. D. Moss DRUM HANDLING ATTACHMENT FOR LIFT TRUCKS 2Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed July 9, 1962 FIG l INVENTOR FRED D- MOSS FIG-2ATTORNEY April 27, 1965 13, oss

DRUM HANDLING ATTACHMENT FOR LIFT TRUCKS 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed July 9,1962 FIG-4 FIG.3

6 m m l Cl 3 m 3 w ww u. w v v A v Mm W \J 2 l 3 3 k7 22 INVENTOR FREDD. MOSS ATTORNEY United States Patent 3,180,512 DRUM HANDLING ATTACHBENTFGR LET TRUCKS Fred 1). Moss, 119 S. Montrose, Fort Valley, Ga. FiledJuly 9, 1962, Ser. No. 208,257 4 Claims. (Cl. 214-620) The presentinvention relates to a mechanism affording an economical, eflicient andsafe means for handling containers such as barrels and drums and whichis adapted to be engaged by the prongs or tines of a fork carried by thevertically moving or tilting mast of conventional mobile fork lifttrucks.

A primary object of the invention is to provide an attachment for forklift trucks which may be readily engaged by the fork lift truck andwhich upon forward movement of the truck against a drum to be liftedautomatically grips the drum upon vertical or tilting move ment of thefork lift mast without necessitating the operator to leave his seat, andfurther releases the drum when the movement of the mast is reversed.

A further object is to provide an attachment for fork lift trucks whichwill automatically grip a drum, lift, transport and release the samewith a minimum elevation of the fork lift mast, thus allowing the deviceto be used in low clearance areas.

A further object is to provide an attachment for fork lift trucksadapted to grip automatically a drum at a point above its center ofgravity while the attachment and the lifting forks barely clear thesupporting floor.

A still further object is to provide a drum lifting attachment withinterlocking gripping elements so proportioned and arranged that theentire action and movement of the elements during operation can beobserved by the operator thus insuring safety and efiiciency.

Other objects and advantages of the invention will be apparent from thefollowing description when taken in connection with the accompanyingdrawings, in which,

FIG. 1 shows a side view of a preferred form of the drum handlingattachment of the present invention mounted on a fragmentarily shownconventional fork lift truck.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the drum handling attachment lookingtoward the front corner thereof.

FIG. 3 is a front elevation.

FIG. 4 is a rear elevation.

FIG. 5 is a detail view partly in section of the vertical and horizontalpivots supporting the drum gripping elements.

FIG. 6 is a detail partly in section of a cam follower.

Referring more particularly to FIG. 1 of the drawings it will be notedthat there is fragmentarily shown in diagrammatic manner the front endportion of a fork lift truck 1i which has a mast 11 of conventionalconstruction which is tiltable forward and back and which is adapted toraise and lower a pair of forks 12 on which the handling attachment 13of the present invention is mountable.

The handling attachment 13 in the present embodiment comprises primarilya skeletonlike supporting frame made of metal, preferably steel, adaptedto pivotally support a pair of levers having portions acting as drumgripping elements.

The bottom portion of the supporting frame consists of two angle barmembers 14 arranged with a depending side wall on the outside and athird angle bar member 15 parallel to and spaced from one of the members14 a distance slightly greater than the width of a fork of the lifttruck. The bottom edges of the members 14 and 15 are secured together byfiat bars 16, one at each end and the third at approximately the middlepoint.

The top surfaces of the members 14 and 15 are firmly secured together bylaterally disposed angle bars 17, one

at each end of the longitudinal members 14 and one forward of the centerthereof.

The rear portion of the supporting frame is formed by the two verticalposts 18 secured to the rear lateral member 17 at some distance from itsends and which carry at their tops a flat rear top member 19 having alength approximately that of the width of the bottom portion of thesupporting frame.

Attached to each end of the rear top member 19 and also to the sides ofthe adjacent rear vertical parts 18 is a cam member 20 formed of channelbar and which also acts as braces to stiffen the supporting frame. Thesecam members 261 are formed with a portion 21 disposed at a 45 angle tothe rear top member 19 and a smaller portion 22 parallel to said member19 for purposes which will be described later.

The front portion of the supporting frame comprises two vertical frontparts 23 attached to the front ends of the longitudinal members 14 ofthe bottom portion and have their tops secured together by a front topmember 24.

To provide rigidity to the supporting frame a diagonal tubular strut 25is secured to the middle of the rear top member 19 and theintermediately positioned lateral bar member 17 and diagonal strut 26are secured to each of the front vertical posts 23 and the bottomlongitudinal members 14.

At each end of the front top member 24 (see FIG. 5) is mounted a bracket27 apertured to receive and firmly hold a stub shaft 28 on which in turnis mounted for rotation a hollow tubular shaft 29 formed with adiametrically disposed bore near each end which receives and firmlyholds a pintle 39 which is encircled by a rotatable sleeve 31 held inplace by nuts and a Washer.

The pair of levers heretofore mentioned as being carried by thesupporting frame are formed of an outer mem ber 32 having its rear endnear the rear portion of the supporting frame and extendinglongitudinally to a point in front of the supporting frame where aportion 33 is bent inwardly at a slight angle and terminates with anoutwardly flaring portion 34, and an inner member 35 which extendslongitudinally to a point in front of the supporting frame Where aportion 36 is bent outwardly at a slight angle and terminates at theapex of the bend in the outer member 32. The ends of the inner member 35are firmly secured to the outer member 32 and the point of bend in theouter member is located far enough in front of the supporting frame sothat a line connecting the apex of one member 32 with the apex of theopposite member 32 will constitute a diameter of a cylindrical objectbeing handled.

The levers are mounted on the suporting frame by firmly attaching thefacing surfaces of the outer member 32 and the inner member 35 to therotatable sleeve 31 which then acts as a fulcrum for the levers andallows them to move in both a vertical plane using the stub shaft 28 asa pivot and in a horizontal plane using the pintle as a pivot. Aconnecting rod 36 is pivotally connected at one end to the inner memberof one lever at a point to the rear of the fulcrum and pivotallyconnected at the other end to the inner member 35 of the opposite leverat a point in front of the fulcrum so as to force the pair of levers toact in unison when moving in a horizontal plane.

Firmly attached to the rear of the outer member 32 of each lever is arearwardly extending cylindrical pin 37 each provided with a shoulder38. Mounted for rotation at the rear end of each pin 37 is a cylindricalcam follower 39 adapted to fit and engage the channel of cam 20 and isbiased for rearward movement by a compression spring 40 positionedbetween the shoulder 38 and the cam follower 39.

: against the top surface of one of the forks.

, ends of the lever into their closest position.

' ends of the levers.

' 2t) and the forward portions of the levers to move toward each other.

To prevent accidental disengagement of the lifting forks and thehandling attachment due to sudden stops or during the releasing of adrum, an apertured and threaded plate 42 is secured to longitudinalbottom members 14 and 15. manipulation effectively secures thesupporting frame to one of the forks.

In the operation of the device, the fork lift truck is moved to face therear end of the drum lifting attachment with the forks in approximatealignment with the lengthwise members of the attachment.

On further forward movement of the truck, the forks enter the spaceformed by the horizontal Walls of the longitudinal members 14 and 15 andthe lateral members 16 (see FIG. 4). The vertical walls of one member 14and of the member 15 co-operate to act as guideways for one fork andthus accurately align the attachrnent with the forks as they are movedforward into complete'engagement In order to prevent accidental orinadvertent disengagement of the forks and the attachment due to suddenstops or the withdrawal ofthe attachment from a drum, the clamp 43carried by the attachment is screwed down The attachment is now ready tohandle drums will be noted that the tension springs tend to separate therear ends of the levers and force the cam followers 39 on the rear endsof the levers to seek the outer and top por tions of the cam 20 and atthe same time to bring the front The opera tor then aligns the leverswith a drum to be handled and upon forward movement the flaring portions34 co-operate with the surface of the drum to pry or cam the forwardends of the lever apart and to force the cam followers to seek theinward reaches and lower reaches of the cam 20. At the same time thefront ends of the levers are raised slightly and to prevent anundesirable amount of raising the cam 2t) is formed with a horizontalportion J which allows'the front ends of the levers to open to thefullest extent but limits the upward movement of the front When the drumis properly positioned with respect to the gripping elements of thelevers, each lever has a tWo point contact with the cylindrical surfaceof the drum which makes it unnecessary for the gripping A screw clamp 43engages the threads and upon a and it 4 V I claim:

1. A drum handling attachment for a fork lift truck comprising asupporting frame having bottom, rear and front portions, longitudinalmembers in said bottom portion acting as guide-ways adapted to receiveand guide a tine of the fork lift, a shaft mounted for rotation on thefront portion of said supporting frame, radially projecting pintles onefixed to each end of said rotary shaft, cam members one mounted on eachside of said rear portion of the supporting frame, a pair of leversmounted for. rotation one on each of said pintles and each having aforwardlyprojecting portion formed to act as drum gripping elements anda rearwardlyprojecting portion, cam followers one mounted on eachrearwardlyprojecting portion of said levers adapted to engage said cams,and a connecting rod pivotally connected at one end to the rear portionof one of said levers and pivotally connected at the opposite-end to theforward portion of the other of said levers;

2. A'drum handling attachment for a fork lift truck comprising asupporting frame adapted to be engaged by and supported by the forks ofa lift truck, a pair of levers by said cam' followers to control thevertical and horizontal movement of said levers, and a connecting rodpivotally connected at one end to the rear portion of one of said leversand pivotally connected at the opposite end to the forward portion ofthe other of said levers.

3. A drum handling attachment for a fork lift truck 7 consisting of asupporting frame having a bottom portion, a rear portion'and a frontportion, said bottom portion comprising parallel longitudinal membersadapted to receive and guide a fork of the lift truck, a pair of leversone pivotally mounted for vertical and horizontal movement on each sideof said front portion, a cam follower carried by the rear end of eachsaid levers, cams carried by said rear portion adaptedeach to engage oneof said camfollowers, a connecting rod pivotally connected to oneof'said levers at a point to the rear of the pivotal mounting andpivotally connected to the other lever at a 7 point forward of itspivotal mounting.

elements to fit closely to the drum and enables the device to handleexpeditiously drums of various diameters and deformed drums.

The tension springs then tend to force the gripping ele ments of thelevers together and make 'firm contact with the drum.

The operator then raises or tilts the forks and the grip- 4. In a drumlifting attachment for a fork lift truck, a supporting frame adapted tobe engaged by the forks of a lift truck, apair of levers each pivotallymounted on the front of said supporting frame for both vertical andhorizontal movement and each having forwardly extending portions formed.to act as drum lifting elements, a cam follower mounted on the rear endof each lever, a pair of cams carried by the rear portion of saidsupporting levers and the cams 20 force the front ends of the levers"trated what I now consider to be a preferred form of the invention, theinvention is not limited to such specific design but includes allmodifications thereof which fall within the scope of the appendedclaims.

stand each adapted to be engaged by one of said cam followers, a tensionspring connecting the rear end of each of said levers with saidsupporting'frame acting to force said drum grippingelements toward eachother and a connecting rod'pivotally connected to one of said leversforward of its pivot point and to'the other of said levers rearwardly ofitspivot point.

7 References Cited by the Examiner HUGO O. SCHULZ, Primary Examiner.MORRIS TEMIN, Examiner.

2. A DRUM HANDLING ATTACHMENT FOR A FORK LIFT TRUCK COMPRISING ASUPPORTING FRAME ADAPTED TO BE ENGAGED BY AND SUPPORTED BY THE FORKS OFAS LIFT TRUCK, A PAIR OF LEVERS ONE PIVOTALLY MOUNTED ON EACH SIDE OFSAID SUPPORTING FRAME AT THE FRONT PORTION THEREOF FOR MOVEMENT BOTH INA HORIZONTAL AND IN A VERTICAL PLANE, A DRUM GRIPPING ELEMENT FORMED INTHE PORTION OF EACH SAID LEVERS EXTENDING FORWARDLY OF SAID PIVOTALSUPPORT, CAM FOLLOWERS ONE CARRIED BY THE REAR PORTION OF EACH SAIDLEVERS AND CAMS CARRIED BY SAID SUPPORTING FRAME ADAPTED TO BE ENGAGED